by Craig Morgan, theSunDevils.com writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Ted Bredehoft wanted Glenn McMinn to wrestle for Arizona State in 1965. He just didn't know how to convince him. The wrestling program had no recruiting budget at the time and McMinn lived outside Oklahoma City.
So Bredehoft did something unexpected, something risky -- maybe even something insane. He hitchhiked from Arizona to Oklahoma, showed up at McMinn's high school in a suit and never said a word about how he got there.
It wasn't until October 2014, when team member Art Martori was hosting a reunion for all the surviving members of that squad, that Bredehoft came clean.
"He stands up and tells this story about how he hitchhiked back to Oklahoma," McMinn said. "He says, I'm not going to say who I was recruiting.' I'm standing right next to him, the guy from Oklahoma, so I raise my hand and say, 'I guess that was me.'"
Bredehoft had been in failing health for the past several months and was under hospice care before he passed away on May 20 in Wichita, Kansas at the age of 85. His colorful personality and incessant drive to promote his program left an indelible impression on those who knew him, but Bredehoft also exhibited a fierce loyalty to those in his inner circle.
When the Denver Broncos selected legendary ASU football player and wrestler Curley Culp in the second round of the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft, things didn't immediately go according to Culp's plan.
"The Broncos cut me and I was pretty surprised," said Culp, who won the 1967 NCAA heavyweight title for Bredehoft. "Ted reached out to me and told me I could come to work with him at ASU, but I was still crazy about football so I turned him down."
Culp, now 71, went on to become a five-time Pro Bowler, the 1975 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and a Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1970.
"Things worked out for me in football, but I'll never forget Ted's offer," Culp said. "He was a fine person that did a lot for me in my growth as an athlete and as a person. He was always kind and helpful and generous. Often times, I'd go over to his house and his wife would cook me a meal."
Bredehoft's most visible traits were his bottomless well of energy and his incessant desire to grow his program. He held outdoor wrestling matches in front of the old ASU library, setting up mats on ground that wasn't quite level, thereby adding an interesting variable for the contestants.
"We would run up A-Mountain, doing calisthenics and he'd have a photographer up here to get pictures of us because he was always promoting the wrestling program," said McMinn, who placed second at 115 pounds at the 1965 NCAA Championship, and third in 1967. "I remember he had a convertible and a few us -- Charlie Tribble loved it -- drove around campus with big signs promoting our match.
"Ted was like a ball of fire. You just couldn't stop him. He had so much nervous energy."
Bredehoft spent 11 years at ASU, during which time he also coached men's tennis and served as an assistant athletic director. His wrestling teams won the WAC championship in 1965, and placed in the top three for five straight seasons. ASU placed sixth at the 1965 NCAA Championship, and eighth in 1967 when Culp won his individual title.
Bredehoft left ASU in 1972 to become Wichita State's athletic director until 1982, when he began working in the oil industry. In 2000, he and his wife, Susan, started the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Network of Kansas after the death of his 6-month-old granddaughter. Susan Bredehoft died in 2014.
Third-year Sun Devils coach Zeke Jones met Bredehoft at that 2014 reunion and came away with a deeper sense of ASU's history.
"When I became the head coach I wanted to recognize the 1965 conference championship team," Jones said. "I finally tracked him down and we were on the phone for an hour and half that night.
It was so much fun to talk about his time here and have him share the history of the program with me.
"Ted Bredehoft really propelled Arizona State into the forefront in the 60s when the program first started. He put us on the path we're on right now."
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Ted Bredehoft wanted Glenn McMinn to wrestle for Arizona State in 1965. He just didn't know how to convince him. The wrestling program had no recruiting budget at the time and McMinn lived outside Oklahoma City.
So Bredehoft did something unexpected, something risky -- maybe even something insane. He hitchhiked from Arizona to Oklahoma, showed up at McMinn's high school in a suit and never said a word about how he got there.
It wasn't until October 2014, when team member Art Martori was hosting a reunion for all the surviving members of that squad, that Bredehoft came clean.
"He stands up and tells this story about how he hitchhiked back to Oklahoma," McMinn said. "He says, I'm not going to say who I was recruiting.' I'm standing right next to him, the guy from Oklahoma, so I raise my hand and say, 'I guess that was me.'"
Bredehoft had been in failing health for the past several months and was under hospice care before he passed away on May 20 in Wichita, Kansas at the age of 85. His colorful personality and incessant drive to promote his program left an indelible impression on those who knew him, but Bredehoft also exhibited a fierce loyalty to those in his inner circle.
When the Denver Broncos selected legendary ASU football player and wrestler Curley Culp in the second round of the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft, things didn't immediately go according to Culp's plan.
"The Broncos cut me and I was pretty surprised," said Culp, who won the 1967 NCAA heavyweight title for Bredehoft. "Ted reached out to me and told me I could come to work with him at ASU, but I was still crazy about football so I turned him down."
Culp, now 71, went on to become a five-time Pro Bowler, the 1975 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and a Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1970.
"Things worked out for me in football, but I'll never forget Ted's offer," Culp said. "He was a fine person that did a lot for me in my growth as an athlete and as a person. He was always kind and helpful and generous. Often times, I'd go over to his house and his wife would cook me a meal."
Bredehoft's most visible traits were his bottomless well of energy and his incessant desire to grow his program. He held outdoor wrestling matches in front of the old ASU library, setting up mats on ground that wasn't quite level, thereby adding an interesting variable for the contestants.
"We would run up A-Mountain, doing calisthenics and he'd have a photographer up here to get pictures of us because he was always promoting the wrestling program," said McMinn, who placed second at 115 pounds at the 1965 NCAA Championship, and third in 1967. "I remember he had a convertible and a few us -- Charlie Tribble loved it -- drove around campus with big signs promoting our match.
"Ted was like a ball of fire. You just couldn't stop him. He had so much nervous energy."
Bredehoft spent 11 years at ASU, during which time he also coached men's tennis and served as an assistant athletic director. His wrestling teams won the WAC championship in 1965, and placed in the top three for five straight seasons. ASU placed sixth at the 1965 NCAA Championship, and eighth in 1967 when Culp won his individual title.
Bredehoft left ASU in 1972 to become Wichita State's athletic director until 1982, when he began working in the oil industry. In 2000, he and his wife, Susan, started the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Network of Kansas after the death of his 6-month-old granddaughter. Susan Bredehoft died in 2014.
Third-year Sun Devils coach Zeke Jones met Bredehoft at that 2014 reunion and came away with a deeper sense of ASU's history.
"When I became the head coach I wanted to recognize the 1965 conference championship team," Jones said. "I finally tracked him down and we were on the phone for an hour and half that night.
It was so much fun to talk about his time here and have him share the history of the program with me.
"Ted Bredehoft really propelled Arizona State into the forefront in the 60s when the program first started. He put us on the path we're on right now."